2023 Quad Lock wireless smartphone charger review

Quad Lock uses a system of modules that allows you to build whatever solution suits your need. The options are pretty broad, so the most difficult task is working out exactly what bits will work for your boat.

Quad Lock is a company that’s been around for about a decade. Over that time it has become a specialist in developing hardwearing smartphone mounting systems geared towards active lifestyles.

After cutting its teeth on mountain bikes, the technology has morphed into motorcycles, cars, the home, off-roading, running, golfing and now the marine world.

Finding the Quad Lock system that fits your needs is like selecting parts from a giant box of Lego, with the aim of eventually creating something that works for you.

Can it work on a boat? Let’s take a look.

We’ve come into this with the goal of creating something that will allow us to wirelessly recharge our phone while we use our navigation function. At the moment, my solution is to jam the smartphone in between the windscreen and the top of the console. 

The problems with this are twofold. 

The first is that if the ride gets bumpy, the phone can dislodge and shoot across the cockpit floor – my only solution to that was to fit the phone with an expensive but durable weatherproof case. 

Second, running an app such as Navionics in real time is so power-hungry that the phone will quickly run flat.

I already know the basics of the system I need to build.

First is a four-screw mount ($14.95) that’s overkill because there is a two-screw version available, but there’s no reason to under-engineer this. On top of that is a rigid 50mm extension arm ($19.95) so that I can position the phone at an angle from the bracket so it clears the other instruments on the dash. I did think about using a dual pivot ($24.95), but past experience with RAM Mount accessories suggests it will make the phone vibrate, so fixed is better.

Finishing it off is Quad Lock’s weatherproof wireless recharging head ($109.95). Because we’re on a boat, we’re also going with a 12V watertight USB smart adaptor ($49.95) that replaces the default USB to USB-C connector. It’s ‘smart’ because it allows you to switch between off, on and an automatic setting, the latter of which will only charge if the engine is running.

To use the system with my iPhone, I’m also looking at an iPhone-friendly magnetic Mag case ($49.95), as well as a waterproof poncho ($29.95) that slips over the front of the phone to keep the spray out.

All up, I’m looking at a $274.70 outlay to build something that will work for me.

Quad Lock’s mounting options include bar clamps, so another plan that would have been cheaper would be to mount the wireless charger on the handrail in front of the jump seat. There is also a stick-on mount, but that feels like a temporary arrangement.

The polycarbonate Quad Lock accessory range is pretty varied and completely modular, so it’s easy to build a solution to your phone storage problem.

The modules are put together using a single 6mm Allen key as the only tool needed.

The wireless recharging head is an interesting design. It uses a cross-shaped plate that locks onto a recess built into the back of the phone case. A quarter turn of the case locks it on either vertically or horizontally. 

One thing we’re not so sure about is the way the wireless recharging head locks onto the phone case. A spring-loaded collar pushes back to make space for the phone case to lock on. We’ll do a few saltwater runs to see if the salt air causes the collar to fill up with gunk.

The base has countersunk holes for mounting seriously large screws. 

One of the cool bits about the Quad Lock system is that all the separate pieces use a keyhole system that allows you to lock the part in at whatever angle you want. I went with 45 degrees.

As stated, I wanted to set up the Quad Lock system so that I could use my smartphone in conjunction with my Raymarine chartplotter and fishfinder, yet still be able to see the dash-mounted gauges. Another consideration was that it had to tuck out of the way of the opening part of the windscreen so that anyone accessing the anchor well wouldn’t knock it.

I was able to assemble the complete system and then place it around the console to see where it worked best, adjusting and tweaking as I went. I decided on the right-hand side of the dash below my trim indicator.

Mounting the base was very straightforward. I’d already assembled the main part of the Quad Lock mount, so it was then just a simple matter of screwing in the charging head.

The smart charger was a bit of a challenge. The large ring terminals are made to screw onto the studs of a 12V battery, not a much smaller marine-rated ganged bus bar. However, because it is independently fused out of the box, I could bolt it directly onto the main junctions of the bus bar.

It’s then just a matter of feeding the USB-C terminal up to the unit. It has twin gaskets on it to provide a waterproof connection with the wireless charger once plugged in.

The unit shows it has power feeding to it via a blue LED light.

On test, the unit performed well, although the way I’d mounted the charger restricted me to attaching it counter-clockwise.

The smart charging module easily picks up when the outboard engine’s magneto fires up, cutting the battery’s connection with the charging pad automatically when the engine stops and the charge drops.

A caveat, though. One advantage I had over anyone else building a Quad Lock system was that I was sent an entire catalogue of mounting parts to choose from. It meant I could pick and choose the bits that suited me rather than make an educated guess.

My initial attempts used a single and dual pivot and even a knuckle adapter, but in the end I was able to build a better system for my needs using just the rigid extension arm.

The Quad Lock system is great, providing a rigid platform to mount a smartphone to a boat. 

What Quad Lock has over other wireless charging systems is that the smartphone mount you use on our boat is the same as the one you can use on your bike, motorbike or car, making it as interchangeable as your ride.

Other marine wireless charging solutions are little more than flat charging surfaces fitted with universal mounts that adapt to the size of the device you’re trying to recharge.

In contrast, this one adapts to you.

After testing, though, I will have to modify the mount by adding the knuckle adapter ($14.95). The face of the smartphone is a little too flat, so I’m going to need to tilt it up a bit more to match the chartplotter’s angle. Then it will be perfect.

We’ll update this review in six months’ time after we’ve had a bit more running in saltwater environments.